When the piece to be repaired is too large for darning, it must be cut out and replaced with a patch of the same material and, if possible, the patch should be cut from linen which has been in use about the same length of time as that requiring the mending. If new material must be used, then let it be somewhat thinner in texture than the other, for if the same material in a new piece be used the patch would be very conspicuous.
Repairing Table Linen.
Use fine linen thread and a fine sewing needle when patching. Cut the edges of the hole to a thread of the material, taking away the worn parts completely, cut the patch to fit over the hole and about an inch beyond it each way. Turn in the edges of the hole, making a diagonal slit at each corner, to get a perfect angle and flat seam. Turn in the edges of the patch and tack on the wrong side evenly over the hole, turn to the right side and hem the patch to the edge of the hole with neat small stitches, then backstitch on this right side to the outside edge of the patch, keeping the lines straight and the angle at each corner acute. See Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 shows the inset patch which is less noticeable than the preceding, and suitable for articles which do not have to stand very frequent use and washing. The edges of the hole are arranged as in the preceding, the patch is cut to fit it exactly, with its edges turned in a seam of the same width as that in the hole. Both edges are topsewn together on the wrong side, then the seam opened out and pressed quite flat. If neatly done and the pattern evenly matched, a patch of this kind is scarcely noticeable. The raw edges of the material should be neatly overcast to prevent ravelling.
Darning Damask Table Linen.
When darning damask linen it is quite possible to imitate the design so closely as to render the mending invisible. A close study of the design is necessary to see the number of threads taken up and passed over. In all cases the best thread to use is the ravelling obtained by picking out the threads from the edges of the material.
The illustration page shows the most common damask patterns and the method of darning them. In all cases the lengthwise stitches are worked as in Fig. 2. The pattern is worked by the crossing stitches, taking up and passing over a certain number of threads in each successive row.
The samples are worked with two coloured threads, so that the stitches forming the design can be easily copied.
When doing drawn thread work wind all the pulled threads on a reel, and keep them for mending linen of all kinds, they are the best threads for the purpose.
When Cloths are frayed at the Laundry.